I miss 'spark' particles.

[Lurkily]

Remember, flamers vs sparkers? The zigzag particles with a trail? They looked so COOL. 

I want sparkers back.  Maybe work them into an electrical weapon with more unique properties, if they aren't distinct enough from flamers. (Ground-seeking terain clearing arc weapons?)

[Lurkily]

I remember a couple suggestions for electric weapons or an electric status effect.  I would like to suggest a particle that seeks terrain through the shortest path - but considers an enemy unit or structure to shorten its path.  Thus it would seek enemy craft as it attempted to approach terrain.  

An enemy struck would generate a new particle, which would exclude it from both pathfinding, and would no longer collide with that enemy.  One shot would have the potential to hit many enemies, but could not set up an infinite damage loop.  They would also be an ideal weapon for clearing out dirt, especially those pesky sub-pixel particles.

[lack_ofabettername]

This could be preaty good. But you should probably make it so the damage decreases every time it hits an enemy or travelse a certain distance.

[ManTheMister]

On 11/9/2018 at 3:35 PM, Lurkily said:

I remember a couple suggestions for electric weapons or an electric status effect.  I would like to suggest a particle that seeks terrain through the shortest path - but considers an enemy unit or structure to shorten its path.  Thus it would seek enemy craft as it attempted to approach terrain.  

An enemy struck would generate a new particle, which would exclude it from both pathfinding, and would no longer collide with that enemy.  One shot would have the potential to hit many enemies, but could not set up an infinite damage loop.  They would also be an ideal weapon for clearing out dirt, especially those pesky sub-pixel particles.

I don’t think it should remove it from the pathfinding, except of specific particles that already passed through that enemy. That would allow infinite loops, so each particle can only create a max of 3 other particles (increased using upgrades?) that each determine the number of particles that they can create from however many thier parent particle can still create after creating them.

[Lurkily]

That spark would remove it only from its OWN pathfinding.  Other sparks can hit it as normal.  The goal is exactly what you describe; I don't want a particle 'nesting' in an enemy.

Other sparks would find their own way, and wouldn't rely on the pathfinding of their neighbors; hopefully while preserving some of the semi-randomness inherent to the previous spark weapons, though.  

Seeking ground might make it a difficult weapon to use for combat, but I still like the idea of seeking, and chaining.  Electrical arcs is the visual effect I'm imagining.  Without an endpoint, though (ground) you'd probably want to limit them in both duration and number of generations they can spawn.  (Number of chains.)

[Star Dream]

Sparkthrowers are back!